Internationalizing A Doll's House: A Theatre Appreciation Assignment with an emphasis on Global Gender and Women's Studies

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen: An International Favorite

Welcome to your Global Studies assignment page for Dr. Barfield's Theater Appreciation course at ACC. This page is your guide for your Module assignment. Students must have a basic understanding of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House play, first published in 1879. As you scroll down this web page, you will discover links for required readings and videos. We will spend approximately four to six class sessions focused on A Doll's House and examine its profound popularity around the globe. By the completion of guided modules, students will have developed a nuanced and global perspective of the artistic, social, political and economic themes that weigh heavily within Ibsen's work. This particular course unit's learning objective is to understand and appreciate inter-sectional feminism through the readings of A Doll’s House and through the play's global impact.

Module 1

After fully reading A Doll's House and/or watching the video of the play, answer the following questions in Blackboard's Discussion Board.

1. Which Universal Declaration of Human Rights Articles most apply to Nora's situation as written in Ibsen's play A Doll's House? You may select more than one.
2. Explain why you selected that particular Article as it relates to the play.

Module 2

• Watch a series of videos (ACC login required) about various interpretations of A Doll's House influenced by regional and cultural values.

• Watch Global Ibsen: a vast project by the Norwegian government began in 2006 with scenes from performances that reveal cultural and social interpretations of Ibsen's plays.

In the course's Blackboard Discussion, answer the following questions:

1. According to the author, what attitude did the audience have about the first production of A Doll's House in Tokyo?
2. What cultural styles did the author, who also directs, choose to perform A Doll's House in her production in Japan? And why?

More examples of interpretations A Doll's House

1. "Adapted by Tanika Gupta and directed by Rachel O’Riordan, the play is set in Calcutta, with Niru (Nora in the original) played by Anjana Vasan (Summer and Smoke)."

2. Watch: A short film that takes place in modern-day England inspired by Nora's story in A Doll's House

3. Watch: a Norwegian theater company's teaser trailer for their performance of A Doll's House

4: Watch: a news report about the opening of A Doll's House on Broadway starring Jessica Chastain (Spring 2023)

Module 3

Group Activity: Personal and Social Wheel (Power Flower)

In a synchronous class, we meet to discuss the above diagram. For a non-synchronous class, you may use these diagrams as yet another method of understanding unique character traits to build empathy through observing difference. Students complete one diagram of the Power Flower individually. Next, students will complete, to the best of their ability, a character's identity categories from A Doll's House in the Power Flower diagram. We then join in group discussion. Students compare and contrast the power dynamics of the character alongside their characteristics. How do we see likeness to this character in A Doll's House? Where do you intersect with the character? Where do you diverge? If you were to direct or perform as this character, what artistic choices might you make in interpreting the character? Consider all elements of the stage: acting, movement, lighting, costume, makeup, scenic design, sound design, etc.

Characters in a Doll's House

• Nora Helmer – wife of Torvald, mother of three, is living out the ideal of the 19th-century wife, but leaves her family at the end of the play.
• Torvald Helmer – Nora's husband, a newly promoted bank manager, professes to be enamoured of his wife but their marriage stifles her.
• Dr. Rank – a rich family friend (named "Peter Rank" in Michael Meyer's translation). He is terminally ill, and it is implied that his "tuberculosis of the spine" originates from a venereal disease contracted by his father.
• Kristine Linde – Nora's old school friend, widowed, is seeking employment (sometimes spelled Christine in English translations). She was in a relationship with Krogstad prior to the play's setting.
• Nils Krogstad – an employee at Torvald's bank, a single father, he is pushed to desperation. A supposed scoundrel, he is revealed to be a long-lost lover of Kristine.
• The Children – Nora and Torvald's children: Ivar, Bobby, and Emmy (in order of age).
• Anne Marie – Nora's former nanny, who gave up her own daughter to "strangers" when she became, as she says, the only mother Nora knew. She now cares for Nora's children.[8]
• Helene – the Helmers' maid.
• The Porter – delivers a Christmas tree to the Helmer household at the beginning of the play

Other Supplemental Readings

Diving deeper into various locations around the globe that produced A Doll's House, follow the link below to see details about a production in Japan and another in Iran.

Module 4: Final Project Assignment

Step One

Review the database and map in the link button below to discover where in the world and in what year A Doll's House by Ibsen was performed. Choose one region and production to focus on for this assignment.

Reply to the assignment questions posted on our course's Blackboard. Include at least three images to support your thoughts, ideas and research.

Step Two

Select a region and/or country in which an adaptation or interpretation of A Doll's House was performed. Summarize historical and geographical information related to that region in no more than 200 words. Examine how a specific women's issue -- taking inspiration from A Doll's House (for example: labor, money, marriage, family, motherhood, divorce, property ownership) was addressed during that particular time of the performance in at least 300 words. Compare how these same issues you have chosen to focus on are addressed today in that region. Reflect on the UN Declaration of Human Rights to assist in your analysis.

Do use this research information button link below to dive deep into the possibilities of your assignment's focus.

Step Three

Design your own Adobe Express web site page (like this one!) that displays your project research from Step Two above. Include a bibliography at the bottom of the page. Be sure to add at least 5 images (and insert a link or citation to the image)!

Your web page for this assignment should include the following:

1. The location of interest and production site for your research on A Doll's House. Include all the details such as country, city, date of production (insert a link to this information as well from the Ibsen Stage database.)
2. A summary of the country and or city's history in relationship to the themes of the play
3. The character in A Doll's House you wish to focus on
4. How the character's story arc is significant and relevant to the country's past (when the play was presented in your selection)
5. How the character's story arc might be interpreted from the country's general perception today (recall the Power Flower exercise and the UN Declaration of Human Rights)
6. Conclude with your own ideas for presenting a Doll's House from your personal and social perspective. Where might you present the play and to what audience? How do you think the play might be received? How might you cast the production, i.e. what identity traits might the actors have that accents aspects of the production you find as particularly relevant? (see your answers for the Flower Power exercise.)
7. Include at least 5 or more images with links or embedded videos to enhance your presentation
8. Be sure to include a Works Cited list at the bottom of your webpage. You must include at least 5 references to cite. At least 3 references should be peer-reviewed. You should also include at least 2 newspaper articles, magazine articles, literary reviews, or published opinions.

Survey and Feedback

Closing thoughts with Roxanne Gay

"When writer Roxane Gay dubbed herself a "bad feminist," she was making a joke, acknowledging that she couldn't possibly live up to the demands for perfection of the feminist movement. But she's realized that the joke rang hollow. In a thoughtful and provocative talk, she asks us to embrace all flavors of feminism -- and make the small choices that, en masse, might lead to actual change."

Works Cited:

Ibsen, Henrik, and Michael Meyer. "A Doll’s House." A Doll’s House. London: Methuen Drama, 1985. 21–114. Drama Online. Web. 4 May 2021. <http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781408167557.00000039>.

“Immortal Ibsen.” Films On Demand, Films Media Group, 2001, fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=79355&xtid=11789. Accessed 4 May 2021.

Wikipedia contributors. "A Doll's House." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 11 Mar. 2023. Web. 23 Mar. 2023.